Cycling

07.14.131:31 PM ET

Opening Up the Tour de France?

Female cyclists petition for chance to race in 2014.

Marianne Vos, an Olympic gold medalist, is one of many female cyclists who think that women should participate in the Tour de France. She helped launch an online petition encouraging French organizers of the Tour de France to allow women into the century-old race. In a letter to Tour Director Christian Prudhomme, they stated: “It is about time women are allowed to race the Tour de France, too.” A Tour Feminin race was held a few years ago, but it lacked media coverage and sponsorship, according to the letter. The riders say that giving females the opportunity to ride “will also create an equal opportunity to debunk the myths of physical ‘limitations’ placed on female athletes.” The question is, will men allow women to beat them at their own game?